1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for wire crimping, and more particularly to a portable apparatus and method for wire crimping which can connect wires between a pair of connectors in a crossing manner and a single connector with a plurality of connectors through different lengths of wires.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 19 shows the prior art wire crimping apparatus disclosed in Japanese Preliminary Publication No. Sho 60-14780.
A wire crimping apparatus 70 includes a guide 72 for passing through plural parallel electric wires (hereinafter simply referred to as `wire`) 71, a chuck 73 for grasping the front ends of the wires 71, a transport chain 74 which can move the chuck back and forth, a cutter 75 for cutting the plural wires 71, a crimping punch 77 and a crimping die 78 for simultaneously crimping the plural wires 71 to a crimping terminal in a connector 76, and a holding cylinder 79 for fixing the rear sides of the plural wires 71.
The front ends of the wires 71 cut by the cutter 75 are crimped to a first connector 76.sub.1 by the crimping punch 77 and die 78. Subsequently, the connector 76.sub.1 is moved forward by driving of the transport chain 74, a second connector 76.sub.2 is connected to the intermediate portions of the wires as shown in FIG. 20, and a third connector 76.sub.3 is connected to the wires after the transport 74 has further moved forward. Thereafter, the transport 74 is moved forward to cut the wires 71 at the read end of the third connector 76.sub.3.
However, the wire crimping apparatus has the following drawbacks.
1. In the prior art wire crimping apparatus 70, as shown in FIG. 19, plural connectors 76 can be connected in series in a longitudinal direction of the wires 71. But, the plural connectors 76 cannot be connected in parallel in a direction of aligning the wires in parallel, the wires 71 with different lengths cannot be connected to the respective connectors 76, and the wires 71 cannot be connected in a crossing manner.
2. In the prior art wire crimping apparatus 70, because the moving distance of the transport chain 74 for varying the length of each wire between the connectors, the length of the wire to be set was limited. Setting the length of the wire by the transport chain 74 could not be performed with high accuracy because of a play of the chain 39 which moves back and forth.
3. In the prior art wire crimping apparatus 70, the transport chain 74 could not extend the wires smoothly.
FIG. 21 shows the state of wire crimping in another prior art wire crimping apparatus. In the wire crimping apparatus, simultaneously when the wires 71 pressed down by a crimping blade 86 are a block blade 87, they are crimped to the crimping terminals of a connector 88. But, when the wires 85 are pulled back as indicated by an arrow a because of their own weight, a protruding margin S of the wires for the crimping terminals 89 is decreased, thus attenuating the reliability of electric connection.
4. In the prior aft wire crimping apparatus 70 as shown in FIG. 19, in moving the connector 76 by the transport chain 74, the transport chain 74 must be moved back and forth and the wires must be grasped again. This makes it difficult to move the connector smoothly and swiftly.